Venue: Johannesburg – JEP, South Africa
The much awaited clash between England and the USA is the opening match of Group C, which will be played on the second day of the group stages, June the 12th, at 20:30 local time. The match will take place at South Africa’s Rustenberg stadium, and there are expected to be large numbers of fans from both sides as well as local supporters in attendance.
With England the seeded team in Group C, having happily qualified with relative ease after missing out on Euro 2008, they re, with UK bookmakers at least, the third favourites to win the tournament outright. Read more about our Group C predictions.
They are also the favourites to come out of this match with three points, at 4/9 for the win. The draw is offered at 13/5, and a USA win is 11/2.
These two teams have some previous form to go on, having played in 2005 and 2008. On both occasions England won, with the ’05 result being 2-1 and the ’08 result 2-0.
The USA are however, undergoing a bit of a renaissance in football terms, with the sport growing in popularity and the national team becoming more of a viable proposition as serious contenders in international tournaments such as this, so the win may not be as easy for England as some might expect going on the USA’s history of having a relative lack of interest in the sport they call soccer.
In terms of players, it is hard not to favour Wayne Rooney, England’s top scorer in qualifying averaging almost a goal a game, and third favourite at present to win the Golden Boot, to be the man to put the first goal away in this game. The USA do have some reliable scorers too, however, with Everton’s Landon Donovan along with Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore all having scored five or six in the qualifying rounds.
The bookies’ favourite scoreline for this game is a 1-0 win to England at 9/2, with 2-0 offered at 11/2. Conversely, if the USA win 2-0 this nets 28-1. Find the best odds and promotions at Expekt or Bodog for this game, also PaddyPower offer some exciting special bets on this match.
With this being an England match, a number of other markets are available from UK bookmakers already, for example you can bet that there will be an own goal in the game at 8/1, or that the first goal will be an own goal at 16/1. There are also bets available on the timings of any goals and the total number scored in the match.
Prediction
England are entering the tournament with a lot to prove to fans and the media after a tough spell, and really need to win this to show they are serious contenders and deserving of being among the front runners to win the cup. They should win this game, but the USA won’t make it too easy for them, and it won’t be by an enormous margin.
My prediction is that England will win 2-0, as they did in their last meeting with the USA. Odds for this result are 11/2.
